It will be the largest sculpture in the world, made from
410,000 multi-colored barrels to form a mosaic of bright sparkling colors, echoing
Islamic architecture. The Mastaba is an ancient and familiar
shape to the people of the region.

The Mastaba will be 150 meters (492 feet) high, 225 meters (738 feet) deep at the 60 degree slanted walls and 300 meters (984 feet) wide
at the vertical walls. The top of The
Mastaba will be a horizontal surface 126.8 meters (416 feet) wide and 225 meters (738 feet) deep.

The colors and the
positioning of the 55-gallon steel barrels were selected by Christo and
Jeanne-Claude in 1979, the year in which the artists visited the Emirate for
the first time.

The proposed area is inland, in Al Gharbia (Western Region) approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the city of Abu Dhabi, near the oasis of Liwa.

In 2007 and 2008, Christo
and Jeanne-Claude contracted professors of engineering from ETH Zürich (Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign in the US, Cambridge University in the UK and Hosei University
in Tokyo, Japan, to prepare structural feasibility studies about The Mastaba. All four teams worked
independently and did not know of each other.

The artists then hired the
German engineering firm, Schlaich Bergermann und Partner, in Stuttgart, to
analyze these reports. The Hosei
University concept was found to be the most technically sound and innovative. The entire substructure as well as the layer of
barrels will be assembled flat on the ground. Ten elevation towers will make it
possible to raise the entire structure on rails to its final position in about
3 to 4 days.

In 2012, Christo commissioned Pricewaterhouse Coopers to conduct analyses on the social
and economic benefits of The Mastaba.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s relationship with Abu Dhabi goes
back to 1979 when they first visited the Emirate. They have returned many times since, creating a
longstanding friendship with the people of Abu Dhabi.

The Mastaba
will be Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s only permanent large-scale work.